


Full Moon on the Rise

by hazelNuts



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alpha Derek, Alpha Scott, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Full Moon, Fox Stiles, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nudity, no sexy times though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-13
Updated: 2015-12-13
Packaged: 2018-05-06 10:11:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5412908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hazelNuts/pseuds/hazelNuts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's Stiles' first full moon after he's been bitten and things really don't go the way they expected it.</p><p>
  <i>Then, Stiles starts to shrink. It’s so fast that Derek doesn’t have time to respond. In less than a second there is nothing left of Stiles but a pile of clothes. </i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Full Moon on the Rise

**Author's Note:**

> If you think I forgot any tags, please let me know in the comments.

Derek knows there is one thing Stiles has always been certain of, one thing he’s never wanted: he never wanted to be bitten. Stiles has seen how the bite hurt his friends. All the extra stuff seems amazing - the strength, the healing- but Stiles has always said he doesn’t think it’s worth it. This hadn’t stopped him from often feeling like he was less than the rest of them, though, especially the first year after Scott got bitten. Stiles had gotten tired of being helpless and fragile, so when the Nogitsune had possessed him, he’d reveled in feeling powerful and in control.

Stiles had told him how he’d slowly lost himself to that power, until he was imprisoned by it and almost couldn’t let go. Becoming himself again had made him realize that all he needs is his pack and his brain. The fact that he doesn’t have the extra strength, or even psychic visions, and only limited control over his own limbs doesn’t seem like such terrible things anymore, because they are _him._

Self-discovery, unfortunately, doesn’t stop a feral Alpha. Two weeks ago an Alpha crossed the borders of the Hale-McCall territory. A neighboring pack had warned them and they were prepared. Their plan was flawless and they’d executed it perfectly.

But the thing about feral animals is that they’re unpredictable, and when you combine that with the raw instincts of a wolf and the self-preservation of a human, things can go sideways in a very bad way.

They’d lured the Alpha into the preserve, where Chris and Allison had set up a trap. Derek and the Betas were herding the wolf towards Scott, who would issue a challenge. Stiles had been hiding behind a tree, ready to close the circle of mountain ash. As always when things were going well, fate turned against them, and so did the wind. The Alpha got a whiff of Stiles’ sent and went after him. Stiles didn’t get far before the Alpha was on him. Derek and Scott had pulled the Alpha off Stiles, and Allison and Chris had fired their weapons the moment they had a clear shot, each hitting their target –an arrow through the heart and a bullet to the head.

It was too late, though. Stiles was bitten.

Stiles had run a fever, slipping in and out of consciousness for several days. They thought the bite wouldn’t take, that Stiles was dying, and the pack had taken over the Stilinski house. An almost unbelievable amount of coffee and takeout had been consumed, and nobody had slept. After three stressful days, the wound finally healed.

Control has come surprisingly easy to Stiles. There is the occasional flash of yellow from his eyes, and Derek is sure he’s seen Stiles wash blood from his palms from digging in his claws, but as long as a pack member is near, and no one leaves him alone with Jackson, Stiles is fine.

Tonight will be different though, because tonight will be Stiles’ first full moon.

~

‘Stiles, relax,’ Derek says, keeping his voice low and soothing. It’s not doing anything to calm Stiles down, because his leg is still bouncing up and down uncontrollably, his eyes focused on the clock, waiting for the full moon to rise.

Derek isn’t sure what to do next. Providing comfort isn’t exactly his strong suit. He slides off the couch to sit in front of Stiles on the floor nonetheless. He grabs Stiles’ hands, folding them into his own.

‘Look at me,’ he says, his voice still soft, though perhaps not as steady as he’d like it.

Finally, Stiles tears his eyes away from the clock and looks at Derek. The golden-brown of Stiles’ irises has already gone bright yellow, and his gaze is open and scared. Derek grips Stiles’ hands a little tighter.

‘Shouldn’t you chain me up?’ Stiles asks nervously, despite having agreed that they wouldn’t, not thinking it would be necessary with how well his control has been. The door is locked and there isn’t enough furniture in the loft for Stiles to actually trash the place. Any real damage could only be done to Derek, and he’ll heal. ‘I remember Scott’s first full moon. And his second.’

‘Do you _want_ me to chain you up?’

The corner of Stiles’ mouth ticks up in the beginning of a smirk, but it vanishes just as quickly as it appeared. Stiles shakes his head and looks down at where his hands disappear between Derek’s.

‘I don’t want to hurt you.’

‘You won’t,’ Derek assures him. Not for the first time tonight, or even that wee, he marvels at Stiles’ trust. It’s not just Derek who could get hurt tonight. They might be friends, but Derek is still an Alpha, and if they got into a real fight, Stiles could get hurt in way that was permanent.

Right at that moment Derek feels the thrill of the full moon going through his body. Stiles jerks back his hands and crawls backwards, putting distance between them. Derek moves to follow, but Stiles shakes his head. Derek can only watch as the power of the moon wrecks Stiles’ body.

Stiles drops forward onto his hand, except they’re not really hands anymore, they’re claws. His head is down and his breathing turns ragged. When he looks up at Derek again, Derek can see the fangs peeking out from beneath his upper lip. They’re smaller than he expected. Stiles’ ears point and his nose elongates. And then he starts to shrink.

It’s so fast that Derek doesn’t have time to respond. In less than a second there is nothing left of Stiles but a pile of clothes. Derek doesn’t move for a moment, his heart has stopped beating and he’s holding his breath. A shudder goes through the pile of clothes and Derek sags in relief. Stiles is alive.

The shudder turns into a lump and then the lump starts moving, trying to find a way out of the clothes. Derek quickly moves forward to help, but freezes again when he sees what state Stiles is in.

Stiles doesn’t seem as surprised as Derek, he seems excited. He swivels his head from side to side to check what he looks like, yips and then starts chasing his own, fluffy tail. It’s funny and a little bit cute, and if Derek wasn’t absolutely stunned he probably would’ve laughed at the antics.

‘I need to call your dad,’ he says, digging his phone out of his pocket, letting himself fall onto the couch.

Stiles lets go of his tail and jumps up next to him, putting his head on Derek’s leg like it belongs there. He yips a greeting when the Sheriff picks up, and Derek places his hand on Stiles’ head to keep him quiet.

‘Sir, it’s Derek.’

‘ _Stiles?_ ’ is all the man says, his voice tight and scared.

‘He’s fine, it’s just-‘

‘ _Did he run out? Is he hurt? Can I talk to him? You guys can still talk when shifted, right?_ ’

‘Stiles is fine.’ Derek smiles when Stiles nips at his hand at hearing his name. ‘But he can’t talk right now. He’s a fox.’

‘ _I thought he was bitten by a wolf?_ ’

‘It doesn’t really matter what you get bit by, you’ll turn into whatever you’re meant to.’ Stiles turns to lie on his back and Derek absent mindedly scratches his belly. ‘Sir, Stiles turned into an actual _fox._ Big ears, red brown fur, fluffy tail. He’s a little bigger than normal foxes, but definitely a fox.’

‘ _Ah, crap._ ’

Derek can almost picture the way the Sheriff slouches in his chair, rubbing a hand over his face in exasperation, because of course Stiles couldn’t do things the normal way.

‘Sir, do you know if there are shapeshifters on your or Stiles’ mother’s side family? Bitten weres don’t usually have the ability to actually change into an animal, unless it’s already in their blood.’

‘ _Claudia didn’t have any family but us. Her parents died before we met. No siblings or cousins that I know of. Is it important?_ ’

‘Not really,’ Derek shrugs. ‘Stiles is already part of a pack.’

‘ _Let me know if he decides to break out and steal someone’s chickens._ ’

Stiles yips indignantly at the comment, jumping off the couch and directing an offended scowl at Derek when Derek laughs at the Sheriff’s comment. Derek misses his warmth immediately. He says goodbye to the Sheriff and relaxes back into the couch.

‘So, what are we going to do now?’ He can feel his own need to shift right under his skin, but he decides to let Stiles take the lead.

Stiles runs up to him and tugs on a pant leg.

‘You want me to come with you?’

Derek stands up, but evidently it’s not exactly what Stiles meant, because he jumps on the couch, leaps at Derek, and sets his teeth in Derek’s shirt.

‘Hey!’ Derek shouts as a large chunk of the fabric is ripped off.

Stiles doesn’t look like he regrets it. If anything, he looks gleeful. His tail swishes from side to side as he sprints behind the couch. A few seconds later his pointy snout and bright yellow eyes appear around the corner, the piece of fabric still in his mouth. Derek finally gets the message.

‘You wanna play?’ he grins.

Stiles drops the piece of fabric, growls playfully, makes a move like he’s going to jump Derek again, but then shoots past him to the other side of the room.

‘We really shouldn’t be doing this inside,’ Derek mutters under his breath, while unbuttoning his jeans.

The moment his paws hit the floor he takes off after Stiles.

~

Several hours later, when the moon is setting, they’re both back to their human forms and lying on the floor, still naked, trying to cool down from all the running and tumbling. Derek has never realized how agile foxes are.

‘We should put out bowls of water next time,’ Stiles suggests. His eyes are closed and his cheeks are rosy. His chest is still going up and down a little faster than usual.

‘Or maybe we should just go out to the preserve,’ Derek retorts.

‘That could work too.’

They stay silent for a while, Stiles keeping his eyes closed, Derek watching him as his heartrate and breathing slow. Stiles is relaxing on the hard floor like it’s a comfy matrass. The quiet is interrupted by Derek’s phone going off, alerting him to a new message. Stiles grumbles in annoyance, but doesn’t move. Derek ignores his phone in favor of keeping his eyes on Stiles’ contented face, but when his phone goes off several times in quick succession and Stiles’ frown deepens, he gives in.

Scott: **you guys okay?**

Scott: **derek?**

Scott: **if you don’t answer me i’ll assume stiles killed you**

Isaac: _did you finally make good on your promise?_

Scott: **PLEASE TELL ME YOU DID NOT ACTUALLY RIP OUT MY BEST FRIENDS THROAT!!!**

Derek chuckles and sends back a quick message to let Scott, and Isaac, know that they’re both fine. He looks back to where the werefox is still lying on the floor.

‘Stop staring, creepywolf.’

‘I wasn’t-‘ Derek stops himself before he finishes the lie. Stiles can hear that now. Not that Stiles hadn’t always known when Derek was lying, but at least there had been plausible deniability. Derek looks back at his phone and wonders again what Stiles is doing here.

‘Why me?’ he asks.

‘Hmm?’

‘Why did you pick me to stay with you tonight?’

Stiles sits up, his eyebrows pulling together in a frown. ‘I already told you. It makes the most sense.’

When they’d talked about Stiles’ first full moon and how Stiles wanted to handle it, Stiles had immediately said he wanted Derek to stay with him. Everyone had accepted his decision without question. Except for Derek, who hadn’t been able to help but ask why. Stiles had said it was because Scott needed more bonding time with his pack, meaning Liam, and Derek’s own Betas would be fine without him on a full moon.

Derek knows it’s not a lie, but it’s not exactly the truth either. He can’t help but feel that there’s something Stiles isn’t saying.

‘Scott would’ve stayed with you if you’d asked. He’s like your brother, the person you trust most in the world. And Liam would’ve been able to help if anything went wrong. So why did you pick me?’

Stiles sighs and rubs his hands through his hair. When he looks up again, he looks pained, like what he’s about to say will hurt him, or hurt Derek.

‘You’re right. About Scott. I do trust him more than anyone, except maybe my dad, but he’s not… I don’t… Fuck.’ Stiles takes in a deep breath, reorganizing his thoughts. ‘You know how I’ve been really in control?’

Derek nods. ‘Yeah, but you heard what I told your dad. You have _two_ packs helping you, and the fact that you proba-‘

‘That’s not why,’ Stiles says, shaking his head. ‘It’s because every time I felt myself shifting I thought of the things you told Scott. Focus on one thing, find your anchor, repeat a friggin’ mantra until the claws and fangs disappear. I thought it was working, until I realized that I wasn’t thinking of Derek’s Words of Werewolf Wisdom, I was just thinking of _you_.’

All contentment and ease has left Stiles’ posture. His knees are pulled to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs, jaw clenched.

It takes a couple seconds before the words sink in and make sense to Derek.

‘I’m your anchor?’ It sounds small and fragile, like Derek’s heart feels.

Stiles nods, his eyes glowing yellow from anxiety.

Derek is on Stiles in a flash, wrapping him in his arms and burying his face in his neck. Stiles lets himself be pulled in with a relieved laugh.

‘You’re my anchor, too,’ Derek whispers in Stiles’ neck. ‘You have been for a while.’

Stiles hugs Derek even tighter and when he nips at Derek’s shoulder in response, Derek realizes that for the first time, Stiles is at a loss for words.

‘Hey, Derek?’

‘Yeah?’

‘If we’re going to continue the hugging, could we do it somewhere softer and warmer? Like your bed?’

Derek nods in Stiles’ neck, wraps his arms a little tighter around him, and lifts him up. Stiles wraps his legs around Derek’s waist without hesitation. Stiles doesn’t let go when Derek lies them both down on the bed and pulls the covers over them, but curls into Derek’s chest and hums happily. His heartbeat giving the occasional flutter, and happiness coming off him in waves.

‘Hey, Der?’ Stiles mumbles into his chest. ‘The bite really is a gift, because now I can totally kick your ass in training, just like I did tonight.’

Derek snorts. Stiles really didn’t win. Derek had very obviously _let_ Stiles win when they’d been wrestling. But before he can tell Stiles this, he hears a soft snoring sound. Stiles is asleep in his arms.

Derek places a soft kiss in Stiles’ hair. He can tell him tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Come say hi on [tumblr](http://fandom-madnessess.tumblr.com/).


End file.
